By John Borrelli and Leslie Gonzalez
Recent efforts to reduce aircraft noise include the elimination of older aircraft, the
rotation of runway usage, and the alteration of flight patterns to avoid the Five Towns.
I'm not going to lie to you. Living three to five miles from an airport is pretty
tough.
So said Michael J. Sammartino, acting manager of LaGuardia Airport, late last year.
Residents of neighborhoods near Kennedy Airport know just how true that is. Over the
years, they have had to deal with increased air and vehicular traffic and the noise and air
pollution that comes with it. Here's what they can expect in 2001:
Noise from above: the good news
Community groups like the Town-Village Aircraft Safety and Noise Abatement Committee
have been making noise about excess airplane noise for years. They enjoyed some victories in
2000 that will mean living in the Kennedy area should be a little quieter.
This month saw the elimination of certain older planes that are among the noisiest
flying today. We've been waiting for this a long time, said Dr. Jack Levenbrown, Village of
Lawrence trustee and long-time member of the local noise abatement committee. Now we're
looking forward to the next step. That next step is the elimination of another class of
noisy, older jets still flying in and out of JFK.
In another TVASNAC victory, runway use is now being rotated every eight hours at JFK
to reduce jet noise over land, particularly between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. This plan ensures
that no single community bears the full brunt of all the noise. The letter of agreement,
signed by JFK's Tower and TVASNAC, includes, in addition to runway rotation, a stipulation
to guide planes to water-approach runways, weather conditions permitting.
Safety remains our first priority, said Ralph Tragale of Port Authority Management,
Government and Committee Relations. The rotation agreement may be temporarily postponed at
times due to weather and runway conditions.
Although runway closures and resulting diversions to flight paths directly over
residential areas are unavoidable, a way of quickly notifying affected communities has yet
to be established. However, Thomas Bosco, JFK's manager of aeronautical operations, briefed
TVASNAC in advance of summer runway closures last year. The community group has been asking
for advance notice of runway shutdowns for some time.
Regarding future efforts to notify local groups of runway closures that may affect
them, Tragale said, If the situation arises, we would certainly do that again.
The FAA has also altered flight patterns, under pressure from community groups, so
that planes make a turn over Jamaica Bay shortly after takeoff, thereby avoiding the Five
Towns.
Finally, the supersonic Concorde fleet remains grounded as a result of the Air
France crash near Paris last year.
Noise from above: the bad news
In April 2000, the passage of the Wendell H. Ford Aviazztion, signed into law by
President Clinton, was to provide additional flights from major airports to lesser-traveled
cities, thus reducing airfares. The FAA will receive funding totaling $40 billion over the
next three years to encourage access by regional commercial jets seating up to 70 passengers
to hub airports such as JFK. The result: a potentially dramatic increase in the number of
daily flights.
Opponents of the additional flight congestion spawned by AIR 21 cite the
near-collision of two aircraft at LaGuardia in June as one reason this legislation should
not have been passed. Despite the near catastrophe, LaGuardia has accommodated up to 300
more flights daily. JFK has not released figures on how many more flights, if any, it
handles daily as a result of the legislation.
As of Jan. 1, an FAA routing change to maintain safe distances between aircraft has
the effect of more planes flying over Valley Stream, Lynbrook and Rockville Centre.
Residents of the three communities, however, report that there has been no dramatic
increase in noise yet.
Two major sources of funding that airports have access to for noise abatement
projects are a $3 per ticket Passenger Facility Charge, or PFC, and the federal Air
Improvement Program, which grants airports up to $5 million per year for residential
soundproofing. To become eligible, an airport must prepare a Part 150 study, a
comprehensive evaluation of noise problems at the airport. A study of the Port Authority's
noise abatement efforts released last February by Representatives Anthony Weiner
(D-Brooklyn/Queens) and Rush Holt (D-N.J.) titled Money for Nothing, charged Port Authority
officials with ignoring noise abatement issues and losing out on such funding.
To date, the Port Authority has not conducted a Part 150 study for residential
soundproofing, partly because officials believe that the region's five-year airspace
redesign plan will redraw most Northeast air traffic routes and contribute to a decline in
residential air noise.
They will look at current patterns, make changes, and those changes will directly
affect noise abatement issues, said Tragale. He added that the Port Authority has, in fact,
addressed all noise abatement issues except for residential soundproofing. Instead, the PA
has focused on soundproofing more schools. A statement issued last February by the PA
confirmed that 20 more schools, including St. Joachim School in Cedarhurst, would be
soundproofed, at a cost of $15 million.
We're actually a little disappointed. We obtained federal funding for St. Joachim,
but despite two follow-up letters, the diocese has yet to sign the agreement for the work,
said Tragale.
They do try to work with us, said Mildred Okos, local resident and assistant
director of TVASNAC, said of the PA. Most Five Towns schools have been soundproofed.
Air pollution
A recent study by the Natural Resources Defense Council listed JFK and LaGuardia as
the top two polluters in New York City.
Currently, both airports are exempted from the 1990 Federal Clean Air Act: No city,
state or federal agency monitors pollution around airports. Legislation known as the Bubble
Bill
